Determination of Altitude Sickness Risk (DASR) User s Guide

Transcription

1 Determination of Altitude Sickness Risk (DASR) User s Guide by David P. Sauter and Yasmina Raby ARL-TN-0585 November 2013 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

2 NOTICES Disclaimers The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official Department of the Army position unless so designated by other authorized documents. Citation of manufacturer s or trade names does not constitute an official endorsement or approval of the use thereof. Destroy this report when it is no longer needed. Do not return it to the originator.

3 Army Research Laboratory White Sands Missile Range, NM ARL-TN-0585 November 2013 Determination of Altitude Sickness Risk (DASR) User s Guide David P. Sauter Computational and Information Sciences Directorate, ARL Yasmina Raby Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

4 REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the burden, to Department of Defense, Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports ( ), 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA Respondents should be aware that notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person shall be subject to any penalty for failing to comply with a collection of information if it does not display a currently valid OMB control number. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR FORM TO THE ABOVE ADDRESS. 1. REPORT DATE (DD-MM-YYYY) 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) November TITLE AND SUBTITLE Final Determination of Altitude Sickness Risk (DASR) User s Guide 17 Jan Oct a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) David Sauter and Yasmina Raby* 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) U.S. Army Research Laboratory Computational and Information Sciences Directorate Battlefield Environment Division (ATTN: RDRL-CIE-D) White Sands Missile Range, NM PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER ARL-TN SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR S ACRONYM(S) 12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. 13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES *Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education 11. SPONSOR/MONITOR'S REPORT NUMBER(S) 14. ABSTRACT: Working in high-altitude environments can adversely impact Soldier effectiveness and result in serious health effects or even death. This technical note describes an easy to use mobile application that can be used to provide guidance on these effects. 15. SUBJECT TERMS: altitude sickness 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT Unclassified Unclassified c. THIS PAGE Unclassified 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT UU 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 18 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON David P. Sauter 19b. TELEPHONE NUMBER (Include area code) (575) Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39.18 ii

5 Contents List of Figures Acknowledgments iv v 1. Introduction 1 2. DASR Inputs 1 3. Summary 7 List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Acronyms 8 Distribution List 9 iii

6 List of Figures Figure 1. Launch DASR....2 Figure 2. Environmental Factors view....3 Figure 3. Mission Factors view....4 Figure 4. Individual Factors view....5 Figure 5. Risk view....6 Figure 6. Information view....7 iv

7 Acknowledgments This research was supported in part by an appointment to the Postgraduate Research Participation Program at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through an interagency agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and ARL. v

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9 1. Introduction The Determination of Altitude Sickness Risk (DASR) application (app) provides guidance regarding impacts to physical work performance and cognitive performance as well as the risk of altitude illness as a function of environmental, mission, and individual factors. Output is based directly on information found in Table 3-2 in the Altitude Acclimatization and Illness Management Technical Bulletin (TB). 1 DASR runs on Android based smart phones (referred to from here on as the device ) and could be readily customized to run on Android tablets as well. DASR was hosted on the device to address the issue of altitude illness in the military. Availability on a mobile device ensures that critical high-altitude illness guidance is readily available at lower echelons and/or remote locations where laptop or desktop computing platforms and/or network connections back to a higher echelon (from which altitude related information would likely be disseminated) are not available. For a more detailed discussion of mobile Android device relevance to the military see Android Smartphone Relevance to Military Weather Applications DASR Inputs To launch DASR, simply tap the DASR icon on the device (circled in red, figure 1). The initial input screen is then displayed for the user to enter the Environmental Factors ( ENV ) information (figure 2). DASR is a multiview (a view refers to an individual graphical user interface [GUI] screen) application with a tab bar (see upper portion of figure 2). The user enters the required inputs (default or previously entered values are prefilled) by tabbing through the various views and selecting the fields that he or she wishes to modify. Numeric inputs are checked for appropriate values with a pop-up message displayed to the user in the event that a value is out of range or invalid (e.g., null). The invalid entry is also replaced with the last valid entry. Upon DASR exit, valid input values are saved (via data persistence) for auto-filling entry fields the next time the app is run. Text field inputs (altitude and temperature fields), labels ( Steep, Rugged Terrain?, etc), check boxes ( Carbon Monoxide Heaters? entry) and Spinners (a widget similar to a drop-down list used to select the Work Rate: field in figure 3) GUI elements are all used in the DASR app. 1 Department of the Army, Headquarters. Altitude Acclimatization and Illness Management. Technical Bulletin Medical 505, (accessed 10/29/13). 2 Sauter, D. Android Smartphone Relevance to Military Weather Application; ARL-TR-5793; U.S. Army Research Laboratory: White Sands Missile Range, NM,

10 Figure 1. Launch DASR. 2

11 Figure 2. Environmental Factors view. If a Global Positioning System (GPS) capability is present with the device, the altitude value could be automatically retrieved and displayed as the default in the ENV view altitude text field box. The temperature value is currently automatically ingested and populated via a Bluetooth connection to a Kestrel handheld weather meter but can be manually entered if a compatible Bluetooth enabled device is not available. Upon valid entry of the inputs in the ENV screen, Physical Work Performance ( P ), Cognitive Performance ( C ) and Altitude Illness ( A ) risk values will be determined and displayed accordingly as color-keyed indicators under the RISK IMPACT column on the right side of the view. The color coding key is displayed at the bottom of the ENV view and is valid for subsequent views as well. Thus, in the figure 2 example, for the Altitude environmental factor, there is a Slight to moderate risk for physical work performance and altitude illness while there is No risk for cognitive performance. Likewise, there is a Significant risk for physical work performance, cognitive performance, and altitude illness due to the presence of carbon monoxide heaters in the environment. 3

12 The next view in the sequence of tabs allows the user to enter the Mission Factors ( MSN, figure 3) affecting the performance impacts and the altitude illness risk. Again, color coding is the same as for the environmental factors. Note, that in this example, there is a beneficial (blue) cognitive performance impact due to the Duration Above 2400m value being 3 5 days. Figure 3. Mission Factors view. Figure 4 is a screen capture of the Individual Factors ( IND ) view used to allow entry of those relevant inputs. The RISK IMPACT values are once again determined upon entry of the parameters. Risk and impact level determination for the various factors is relatively intuitive, e.g., there are increased performance impacts and a greater altitude illness risk due to sleep deprivation. TB Medical 505 should be consulted for additional details if necessary. 3 3 See reference 1 on page 1. 4

13 Figure 4. Individual Factors view. The Risk View ( RISK, figure 5) tabulates and displays the cumulative physical work performance, cognitive performance and altitude illness results from the ENV, MSN and IND views. Thus, in figure 5, there are a total of four beneficial physical work performance impacts, seven no-risk cognitive performance impacts, etc. 5

14 Figure 5. Risk view. The last view ( INFO ) simply provides the Point Of Contact information for the app as well as the version and date of the app. 6

15 Figure 6. Information view. 3. Summary DASR provides easy to use and readily understood guidance regarding physical performance and cognitive performance impacts as well as the risk of altitude illness to Soldiers. Hosting on a mobile device should make it accessible virtually anywhere in a tactical or training environment. Final internal testing and evaluation of DASR is anticipated in It will then be transitioned to the Defense Information Systems Agency s (DISA) Mobile Application Store (MAS), which is slated for deployment in the summer of Via the MAS, Department of Defense (DOD) individuals will be allowed access to the DASR app for their use. 7

16 List of Symbols, Abbreviations, and Acronyms A C ENV IND INFO MSN P RISK app ARL DASR DISA DOD GPS GUI MAS TB Altitude Illness Cognitive Performance Environmental Factors Individual Factors Information Mission Factors Physical Work Performance Risk application U.S. Army Research Laboratory Determination of Altitude Sickness Risk Defense Information Systems Agency Department of Defense Global Positioning System graphical user interface Mobile Application Store Technical Bulletin 8

17 No. of Copies Organization 1 DEFENSE TECHNICAL (PDF) INFORMATION CTR DTIC OCA 2 DIRECTOR (PDFs) US ARMY RSRCH LAB RDRL CIO LL RDRL IMAL HRA RECORDS MGMT 1 GOVT PRINTG OFC (PDF) A MALHOTRA 2 DIRECTOR (PDFs) US ARMY RSRCH LAB RDRL CIE M D P SAUTER Y RABY 9

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